Backsberg wins Sustainability Award at The Drinks Business Green Awards

Sun, Feb 28, 2010

Backsberg has won the Sustainability Award at the inaugural Drinks Business Green Awards. The winners of this international competition were announced recently at an awards ceremony in London. Louise Wishart, marketing manager of our UK importer, Ellis of Richmond, was there to receive the award on our behalf.

We were also chuffed to have been a runner-up in the Green Company of the Year category. Entries to the competition included many of the wine industry’s world leaders in sustainability. You can read more about the awards and the winners here.

The official blurb regarding the awards is as follows:

The Drinks Business Green Awards highlights and rewards leadership on environment, sustainability and climate change by drinks companies worldwide. Designed to raise awareness of green issues in our industry and boost the role of marketing in influencing consumer behaviour, the Drinks Business Green Awards provide a high-profile platform for companies to showcase their positive commitment to the planet. With support from a range of influential supporting partners and an eminent panel of expert judges, the awards emphasise how sustainability is core to development in the drinks industry.

According to the judging panel, the Sustainability Award recognised our efforts in employing the most efficient and effective sustainable practices throughout the farm, whether in the production facilities or our agricultural practices. Judges took into account all aspects of production where waste management, recycling and sustainable practices have been improved in the last three years and more particularly in the last 12 months. You can view the photo gallery that was part of our entry here.

In a word, it was really great to receive this type of recognition. In response to winning the award, my dad sums it in saying “Solutions are plentiful if you accept that a ‘business as usual’ approach is no longer viable. You can’t have holy cows anymore.

“Affecting change is both challenging and exciting. Positive recognition for bringing about environmental change servers as an important motivator for Backsberg to carry on its effort in the field of environmental care.”

South Africa did really well in the awards with Inge Kotzé, project co-ordinator for the Biodiversity and Wine Initiative being awarded Green Personality and the Lifetime Achievement Award going to Paul Cluver. Congratulations to them! SB

Drinks Business Green Awards Certificate

This post was written by:

Simon Back- who has written 56 posts on the Back Chat Blog. After finishing up studying economics at UCT in 2007, Simon has joined his family wine farm, Backsberg. When he is not trying to figure out what marketing wine means, he is authoring his blog, Back Chat.

Author's web site: Backsberg